March14, 2007

Washington, DC
– House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton
(D-MO) and Readiness Subcommittee Chairman Solomon P. Ortiz
(D-TX) have asked the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and
the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to study the
impact of continued U.S. troop deployments and the current
condition of military equipment on military
readiness.

“Readiness is an issue our committee has been closely
monitoring for some time, and with growing concern.
We must have a military that is prepared to protect and
defend the American people and our national
interests. But when readiness levels fall, our level
of strategic risk goes up. Improving the state of our
military’s readiness, particularly that of the United
States Army, is essential to ensuring they are prepared to
respond when necessary. Our adversaries are unlikely
to warn us in advance,” said Skelton.

“Many of us have said for the past year that the
readiness shortfall is on slow burn, and that is where it
remains. We have to move carefully, but with great speed
and focus, to try to fix the damage to readiness caused by
the Iraq war. This crisis is evolving, and will not
be solved by only throwing more money at the
services. We have to fix it at all levels,”
said Ortiz.

The letter to CBO asks that the analysis include
considerations for: sustained operations in Iraq and
elsewhere; the number of troops needed for current
operations, as well as variations above and below current
operations; options for addressing identified readiness
issues and the budgetary implications of implementing those
recommendations; and a determination of the time frame
required to completely address any recognized readiness
shortfalls, both for the current rate of operations and the
rate assumed under CBO scenarios.

The letter to GAO deals more specifically with concerns
over prepositioned military stocks which ensure that the
military has materiel and equipment for rapid
deployment. GAO previously spoke to concerns and
management challenges with regard to prepositioned Army
stocks. The request asks GAO to study: DoD’s
reasoning to off-load Army afloat stocks and its plan to
mitigate the risks of not having those stocks if a new
conflict emerges; the specific plan to re-supply
prepositioned stocks around the world and how that fits
with broader Army and DoD strategies; how these changes are
reflected in DoD budget and supplemental requests; and an
estimated cost to restore the prepositioned stocks that
fits current DoD strategy.